Old Dog, New Tricks
by jiemae
Summary: Sakura never expected to find herself swept back in time, having switched places with her younger self, but more than that; she never expected to be swept into the enigma that was her teacher. She never expected a lot things. Time Travel, AU.
1. Blossom Under Struggle

**A/N:** I love crack pairings,yeye.

* * *

 **Old Dog, New Tricks**

* * *

 _ **chapter one**_

* * *

"What the hell?" she whispered, bringing her hand up to her face in the horror at seeing a younger Naruto gazing up at her with even wider blue eyes. Sakura stumbled back, yelping in surprise when she hit against somebody before turning to look at them. Much to her chagrin, it was Sasuke.

 _Shit, shit, holy fucking_ shit.

Sakura had _really_ messed up with this one, apparently. Apparently because…she couldn't remember _anything_. One second she had been sitting next to Sasuke, trying to get him to open up—and failing—and then the next she was standing in her old training grounds with the two boys that had effectively made her life a living hell by the time she was the fragile age of thirteen.

Just seeing Sasuke with those dark, hooded eyes and obvious dissatisfaction had her heart aching all over again. He regarded her with a guarded expression, taking a step back to gaze up at her. She noted with a little bit of self-satisfaction that he had a hint of surprise in his eyes, which was an exceedingly difficult thing to achieve.

On the other hand…to the left of her, Naruto began to stutter out a mixture of obscenities and made it very well known of his surprise. Man, that took her back. Back to the time where she had used to loathe the blonde, being too much of an idiot to notice that they could become the great friends that they were. Hell, she had said the worst things to him. _Him_ , one of the kindest people she had ever met, always excited like a puppy who merely wanted to experience the world around him.

"What the hell indeed," a voice intoned, familiar in the way that she recalled it having barked orders at her for the better half of her nineteen years.

Cringing, she turned to face her teacher with a defensive pose, hands going up and ready to form into fists at a moment's notice, "Kakashi-sensei…"

"Would you care to explain what's going on?" he asked, his right eye crinkling up in that oh-so familiar eye smile that she had come to know him for. But his tone had a hint of _danger_ to it, reminding her that although she had presumably been on his good side a few minutes ago, that could change at a drop of a hat with her appearing out of nowhere with a form that was obviously not thirteen-year-old Sakura.

Swallowing, she shrugged with a pained smile, "I seem to have swapped places with myself, I presume. Hopefully."

"Hopefully?" he inquired in that tone of voice that sounded nice enough—if you didn't know him. He was suspicious of her, and well within reason too.

"Take me to Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura yelled, outright panicking before she realized, looking back to Sasuke, "Not Tsunade-shishou? Wait, no, when did Naruto bring her?"

She couldn't remember it too clearly—that had been _years_ ago, everything got a little fuzzy after a while with new pressing matters popping up in the form of S-rank missions and the like. Besides, even if she could remember everything as clear as she could her medical textbooks, she doubted it would make much of a difference for her dilemma.

Was Sasuke still around when her blonde teacher got promoted to Hokage? Sakura was ashamed to admit she couldn't remember clearly. She tended to block those memories out as best as she could, especially the ones revolving around Sasuke leaving her. It was a whole lot better than brooding over them and more proactive to move forward and grow. But now she regretted, just a little bit, not badgering Naruto for more information on the mission that had gotten him nearly killed.

Sakura looked at Kakashi again and winced, "I've got a lot to explain but mostly I will just let it be known that I don't know what is happening."

It was true, she really did it and although Sakura was the face of calm in any scenario relating to medicine and the need for control, she had to admit that this terrified her. She didn't know what to think or how to feel. She couldn't wrap her mind around what was going on and she felt more near to a panic attack than she would have preferred.

Her eyes moistened, especially when her gaze landed on Sasuke.

"You," she mumbled, noting the way he gaze was dark in the way that she used to swoon over after getting over the initial fear, "are really an idiot."

He blinked.

"Sorry," she said even if she didn't really feel it. He'd put her through far too much, had driven her heart through blades and fire. She thought she was allowed a little bit of an attitude around him but then she had to stop and think; _this isn't your Sasuke_. At least not the Sasuke she was currently working on getting to let people in and not (it was a really trying task) kill them instead. This was the boy with the grief of an entire clan's loss on his shoulders, the boy who had been so strong in the face of it, and the boy that had betrayed everything she valued.

Some part of her resented him but the bigger whole of her was too swamped in being miserable _for_ him. The young boy she remembered, the one who used to laugh and crack a stray joke in class every once in awhile had been gone for a long time and she mourned him every single day.

"If I'm really in the past, then this is really dangerous," Sakura muttered, mostly to herself as she gazed around the training grounds. She hadn't been here in so long...not since Sasuke left the village. Team Seven had made a point not to visit what had been their old home away from home. Bad analogy but it was all she could come up with to describe the place where she'd made some of her most precious memories.

Times like when Naruto had nearly decapitated himself from a kunai thrown awry. She still had no idea how he'd done it but his reaction alone and the fact that it was _Naruto_ was enough to make her chuckle at the memory. Not to mention how this was where she'd been subjected to many, upon many, excuses from her jounin sensei about his lateness. They had the tendency to be utterly unbelievable after while. It was only later that Sakura would learn that a lot of the time, Kakashi was actually at the Memorial Stone. Others, more shocking, was when they were actually the truth. Sasuke was usually the one who complained the most about Kakashi being perpetually late to everything, sans actual missions.

Sakura had to blink back tears when she saw them all continuing to look at her like she was an otherworldly being that had come to destroy the world. They were whole still, well as whole as they could be with all the emotional baggage lingering over all of them, and they were together.

They also had no idea what would come to them, how difficult things would get and how much they would lose.

 _But we got him back in the end_ , Sakura thought to herself, a bit smug when she looked at Sasuke.

 _Thought you could run from us!? No way,_ Inner cheered victoriously, _cha!_

Suddenly, Sakura was nervous and agitated. She wanted to go back to her timeline, _now_. But there were certain things keeping that from happening. First, she had no idea how she'd ended up there or what had happened to her younger self. Second, Sakura didn't have any justu up her sleeves, or any knowledge, of a jutsu that could send her back.

She was stuck, she realized in instant dismay.

Oh kami, what if they sent her to Torture & Investigations?

 _I can't tell them anything,_ Sakura thought as her situation began to sink in, _that could ruin everything we'd worked so hard for!_

She _really_ didn't like the idea of messing with time. Sure, she knew a few people who would have a very fun time in trying to prevent things from happening but as far as Sakura was concerned, they'd made it out pretty okay. Not whole, but okay, and she didn't want to risk them not making it out _at all_.

But at the thought of prevention, Sakura's mind immediately jumped to all the deaths and every single face she'd ever known who had died. _Neji, Asuma, Sasuke never leaving_. To her, the last one was the most important. After Sasuke had left her, it had felt like he'd died. At the very least, the part of him that loved Konoha and had wanted to stay...it had died in her arms as he broke away from her.

Sakura knew it was selfish. She'd seen Hinata in tears over her cousin's death, had been to Asuma's funeral and watched her best friend change before her eyes as the light of innocence washed away. Ino hadn't really been used to the idea of death before that had happened and because of it her friend had never been the same. A bit colder, more ruthless and less confident and sure. Shikamaru's reaction had been even worse and not to mention the way their parents had died...

 _And I can't change any of that._

"I shouldn't be here," Sakura said aloud and promptly shot upwards into the air with the idea in her head that she could maybe escape Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke were too stunned to react but her teacher was there in a second, his hand closing around her wrist and then her waist.

She didn't really have the heart to actually try to run. She could have easily performed a replacement jutsu but even then she knew that Kakashi, a tracker nin, couldn't be left in the dust for long. It was best that she went along with everything and found a window of opportunity to leave.

Then she could relax for a bit to think about the sort of mess she was in.

Sakura was too confused to actually start thinking of ways she could possibly reverse whatever the hell was going on. It almost felt a little hopeless, they'd find her before long and then any sort of struggle would simply be delaying the inevitable.

In short, Sakura Haruno was in trouble. Big trouble.

* * *

 **Blossom Under Struggle**

* * *

If she ever got her hands on the person who did this to her, she was going to think of new ways to invent killing a man. She'd do this via experimentation, of course, and would kill two birds with one stone by vicariously learning new ways to heal people. It was the sort of thinking that wasn't realistic and probably made things worse but she was too angry, too confused, and too afraid to think much anything else.

It made her feel a little bit better, she had to admit, thinking about something that wasn't her situation. If she thought about the latter she was prone to erupt in seconds. Which would mean possible destroying the Hokage tower and Sakura never wanted to be at the tail-end of _that_ particular punishment.

No, it was best she remain as calm as possible and so she stuck primarily to those sadistic happy thoughts.

But then Kakashi walked in and killed any train of thought, happy or otherwise.

 _Here it comes_ , Inner echoed Sakura's own thoughts and they both simultaneously winced. The different was the one of them was wincing in restraints and the other was having a very hard time not going on a tirade about the unfairness of their current predicament. Which was plenty of fodder to hold back on because _everything_ about it was just not right.

She didn't have the memory to be sure she wasn't the actual cause of all this or someone else was (though she was betting on the latter cause how the hell could _she_ do it?) and thus couldn't exactly tell them she was blameless about her younger self's disappearance. Not to mention that she couldn't exactly help being as powerful as she was and giving them reason to sweat. She didn't have the heart to tell them that their restraints were useless to her sheer strength but she let them stay in place. Sakura would hate to be suspicious.

Internally she was rolling her eyes at that.

Of _course_ they were looking at her like she was about to go on a killing spree. They were just preparing for worst case scenario and weren't even sure she was who she said she was.

 _Though the hair should practically_ spell _it out for them_ , Inner declared in a bitter tone.

It was true, not many had Sakura's brand of coloring and any sort of genjustu was ruled out for the pure fact it would have dispelled by now. It had, after all, been five hours of sitting in a chair, alone for the most part aside from the ANBU that were lurking in the background. Probably waiting for her to break out.

Which she wouldn't do because that would be a waste of perfectly good time.

Ugh. _Time_. She was getting a headache.

The ache in her head only increased when the Third stepped in after Kakashi. Along with it came a similar feeling in her chest. When she was young, she hadn't been prepared for the loss of a man she'd looked up to in so many ways. In her mind, he was immaculate and powerful.

But Orochimaru had taken that away, just like he had taken Sasuke away too.

Sakura slumped in her chair, too depressed to do much else.

There was a reason she didn't swell in the past. It always made her into useless dead weight. Honestly, if she cared all her burdens at every moment of the day then she wouldn't be as steeled as she was. Sakura had put a lot of care and attention to her mental health, which was pretty much actively _ignoring_ everything that so much as reminded her of the past. Now she was _stuck_ in it.

It was like some sort of sick new way of torture.

Absently she wondered if this weren't real, that this was a dream and soon she'd wake up. Then she could go bug Sasuke and tell him how much of a punk he was asking. Naruto would join her and the two of them would try to make things...not okay, but better. Okay was for when her cheerful blond friend was finally the Hokage and she could put herself fully into her medicine with a hopefully mended bond between a certain raven-haired boy and herself.

Then the chair creaked as Hiruzen Sarutobi took his seat. Sakura, in all her life, had never had such a vivid dream. She really starting to doubt that whole theory, especially with the way he was looking at her. For the most part, he appeared passive. But the killer intent coming off of him was more than enough for Sakura to realize that this was serious. _She_ was in serious trouble.

 _This man could kill me right now if he wanted_ , Sakura thought numbly.

"Who are you?" Hiruzen asked and she visibly winced.

"Sakura Haruno, Hokage-sama," she honestly said, her gaze darting towards Kakashi, "though, obviously, not the you're looking for. I'm eighteen, by the way, and whatever who have in store for me in the ways of torture and interrogation, well, I really hope you don't do. Perhaps you can just help instead, like say, figure out if anyone knows how to send me back to my time? That's in the future, in case you haven't realized," Sakura said, adding that last bit for her own benefit because ho-ly _shit_ this was insane. "Really not a good thing for me to be here."

 _Understatement of the century_ , Inner groaned, banging her fists against the walls in Sakura's mindscape.

Sakura blinked before returning to reality with a sigh.

"How do you plan to prove you're from the future?" Hiruzen asked, amping up his killer intent.

With sweat breaking out in her forehead as if she were little again and worried over an exam, Sakura braced herself as she said something that was probably Naruto's brand of stupidity, "I should think that was self explanatory when I suddenly appeared here and my other self vanished. No idea where she's off to but if she ended up where I was well," Sakura blinked, "she should be fine?"

Let's see, the last thing she could clearly remember was being by Sasuke. They were in her brand new apartment and she was practically begging in her head for him to ask her out. _Just do it_ , she'd been thinking as he smirked at her. He'd been doing it a lot more recently and as infuriating as it was, it also made her happier to feel as if there was actual progress in Sasuke.

She continued to ache for that boy who died when his family did.

Sakura honestly just wanted him to be _happy_ , for once in his life.

Now she was wondering how exactly Sasuke would react to the terror that had been her past self. Sakura went pale as she realized.

"No," she whispered, her eyes going wide, "I have to get back there. She'll ruin _everything_. Do you know how long it takes to get a guy to fess up about his feelings?" Sakura asked but didn't wait for an answer as she bulldozed on ahead, "Four years and counting! And I'm not even _at_ the confession part yet, if there's still any hope it can even _happen_ still. She'll completely blow everything out of the water, everything I've worked so hard for. As if he needed to be reminded of how much of an _idiot_ I was!"

Sakura was babbling, she knew, but honestly, she had lost her cool. All of it.

In the face of whatever disaster was awaiting her when she got back, she had snapped.

And so had her restraints.

Instantly everyone in the room stiffened but she hadn't even noticed. They were so flimsy that she'd honestly done it without thinking. Now, staring at all of them, the face of a man she knew as dead and the masked one of a man she knew as the Saddest Existence Ever, Sakura knew she was up to her neck in her fears and ready to burst with them. Usually when Sakura was like this, because it had happened once or twice before, it was a violent freak out where everything got obliterated.

Thankfully, she started crying before that happened.

Later on she would ever deny it happened, swearing up and down that it had all been _their_ imagination, but for now that was what had really broken the ice.

Well, for her, it had broken an avalanche and she was actually drowning but for them it made them get over whatever hostility that had been building up in their minds. They were still obviously suspicious but at least they were beginning to believe her. Hard not to when she was telling them the truth and shinobi were trained to sniff out lies.

"From the future," Hiruzen said, the killer intent that he'd been slowly adding to vanishing, his gaze thoughtful. "I need to look at the Forbidden Jutsu, see if we have anything related to time travel on it."

Sakura wiped at her face, sniffling all the while, and pretty much feeling like a mess. She hated breakdowns, mostly because facing any sort of aftermath was just awkward. Sakura was a trained up, tokubetsu jounin with a specialization as a combat medic. Huge emphasis on _combat_. Which meant that she had a certain reputation to uphold and crying in front of the Third was _not_ helping.

But then she recalled that she had no such reputation in her time. In fact, her reputation had pretty much been known as a useless kunoichi, sucking at pretty much everything that didn't involve being an obnoxious know-it-all and just slightly better than average chakra control.

Oh, how much she had changed.

For once, she was a little proud of herself for rising so much in power. Little Sakura would have never guessed her master would someday be the Legendary Sannin herself. But then, she also wouldn't be able to imagine the pure agony of training under someone as hard-hitting as her.

Sakura sighed, "Until then, what am I to do? I honestly have no memory of any jutsu being performed at all. One second I was with, um, well, never mind _who_ it was, but the next I was standing in the middle of a training field that I would normally _never step foot in_. Bad memories, or too good, considering, y'know." They didn't know but that was besides the point.

Hiruzen sighed, looking as if he'd aged years right in front of her. Then he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, "Well, I have some questions for you first."

"Not telling you the future," Sakura said instantly and perhaps a bit too sharply because they all looked at her with tension filling back up in the air, "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, that would be very bad, for all of us, and as much as I'd love to prevent a few very terrible things, I don't want to risk the good from happening. Not even if you ordered me to share or got a Yamanaka in here. They couldn't get anything from me anyway," she declared defensively, "so don't even try." _Please_ , she mentally tacked on.

He stared at her.

Part of her was sending off warning bells for having used such a tone with a superior but another part was adamant about not screwing things up even more than they already were. Nope. Not gonna happen.

Also she was probably putting a little too much faith in her inner self. Ino had once remarked to her that her split personality had once kept her at bay from getting controlled in her first promotional exam but Sakura wasn't really all that willing to test it out. No telling what could happen. (Inner was a bit unreliable.)

Empty threats aside, Hiruzen seemed to wilt a little like a kid who had just gotten scolded.

Sakura blinked because that was just damn strange.

But then she realized what a novelty it could be, knowing the future or knowing somehow who did. Didn't happen all the time, that was for damn sure. To be sure, it was a "novelty" to those who didn't know what it all entailed, that much was rapidly being made clear to her. More than anything, it was a burden to the one bore the knowledge. All those lives and the chance to change them for the better...not exactly a light thing to take on.

Sakura was the smart one on her team for a reason, the one who had remained consistent in terms of team morality. She wasn't the type to go off and do stupid things just on a whim. She was constantly made aware, usually by Naruto's actions more than anything else, that actions always had their consequences. Her doing anything would have consequences.

Who's to say she didn't fuck it all up already?

 _That's Naruto's tendency_ , Inner chimed cheerfully, _not ours_.

 _Right,_ Sakura agreed in a hopeful tone _, ours is to fix things when shit hits the fan._

She sighed as the realization sunk in, "Well I know what I'm going to have to do."

"And what is that?" Kakashi asked now, eyeing her thoughtfully. He'd even put the damn porn book away. Glad to know her situation warranted such devoted attention. Not. She actually felt a little queasy seeing him without it.

"Isn't that obvious?" she asked to no one in particular, "Little me is gone and events have to unfortunately unfold as they were. With her gone, who is to do what I did in the past?" Which wasn't exactly much, all things considered, but ripples made waves and Sakura wasn't about to risk her future with the chance of Sasuke in it.

"Is has to be you then," he said and she nodded with a helpless shrug.

"My genin days were pretty awful," she said with dry humor, "but I can stomach them for the sake of the somewhat happy turnout."

"Somewhat?" Hiruzen inquired, obviously still hung up on wanting to know the future.

"People died," she put ominously, trying not to wince as she maintained eye contact with him.

They all went silent at that.

"Once," Sakura began to muse out loud as her mind wandered and she struggled to keep from crying again, "Naruto and I were sucked into an alternate reality. Gonna be honest, this is even stranger than _that_ and the Naruto there was named _Menma_ and had _black hair_. He also wanted to destroy the world."

She shuddered to think about everything she'd gone through there. That entire thing with Sasuke had really screwed with her and she was almost made glad that her Sasuke was nothing like that two-timing jerk.

But then that train of thought actually got her thinking.

The person who had taken her and Naruto to that other dimension had been none other than Obito Uchiha. Of course, she hadn't known it yet, but he'd used his eye to really mess with the two of them. And it just so happened that the last person she'd been with was an Uchiha with mega-powerful eyes.

First reaction to the realization was to jump to her feet and shout: "That bastard!" Second was to sit back down and angrily fume as she muttered to herself, "If he had anything to do with this then I am going to kill him. Absolutely _destroy_ him, patch everything together, and then do it all again." Because sending a girl back in time was a great way to effectively vanish any sort of positive feelings toward a guy, no matter how hot he was. There was limits to how far someone could go and Sasuke had, if she was right about this theory, gone past them. Obliterated them, to be precise.

"Anything you want to share, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked, book back in hand as he peered at her with a crinkled eye as if he found her suffering _amusing_. Who was she kidding, he always had.

"Next time I see Sasuke, you might have to rescue him," Sakura said darkly, "not sure if I can hold back when I see his stupid face."

"Noted," he said dryly, obviously wanting to say more. Probably ask why she was so angry towards the guy he knew as her "true love". Yeah, as if she'd ever be named Sakura Uchiha or ever get past the self-erected walls that Sasuke had set up around himself. She'd been trying so, so hard to help. She just wanted him to be _happy_ and if he wanted her gone, all he had to do was _say it_.

But he was pretty much allergic to things like emotions, too damaged by all the others.

 _Tell me, tell me_ , she had nearly begged him. She'd wanted to hear all of it, not from what the others had said, but from _him_ and _his_ take on his role in the whole thing. After all, not many people liked him any more. Sure there was the Rookie Nine, who had forgiven him even if he totally hadn't deserved it, but the entire village loathed the Uchiha and she knew it couldn't be easy. It certainly hadn't been for Naruto when they were younger. She'd even been apart of it.

Sakura had vowed that this time around, no matter how mean he was to her, she would remain a dedicated friend in what was his lowest time. He seemed so sad to her, so much without ambition that it hurt her. Before, he had been fueled by his anger towards his brother and it had held him together, but now with the peace that had come from the shinobi forces joining up, it just meant more time to mourn than it did time to move on.

 _Let me help you_ , she had once said to him, tears in her eyes. He'd simply looked away.

The anger seeped out of her in that instant. She knew she had the right to be upset but Sakura had never been good with being angry for too long. Especially not at Sasuke. She had the tendency to punch out her aggravations and get over grudges shortly after they came to fruition. It was one thing she'd learned by Sasuke's example and she didn't want to be consumed by the hatred and pain that Sasuke had been ruled by for the longest time.

Sakura sighed and deflated, "Well, I guess I'll need a place to stay in the meantime and it should probably be someone who can keep an eye on me like the potential threat you guys think I am." She rolled her eyes at that, showing just how little she thought of _that_ idea. Then she stiffened as she realized who was really the only viable option.

Echoing her thoughts, Hiruzen sat up straighter as he looked at Kakashi.

For his part, her teacher looked undisturbed by the idea but if there was anything he was a master at, it was hiding emotions and masking it with snarky one-liners and a love for written pornography. Well, she wasn't really sure if it was a mask at all. It was a lot easier to believe than her teacher, the one that had been so involved her life, being an actual pervert.

She supposed he could be allowed his eccentricities and was, if she was completely honest, kind of intrigued at the idea of staying with him at his home.

 _Welp_ , Inner started in a cheerful tone, _time to find out if he actually lives in a sex dungeon!_

 _Yes,_ Sakura agreed dryly _, time to find out and completely ruin his reputation when I get back to the future_.

 _If_ she got back to the future.

* * *

 **Blossom Under Struggle - End**

* * *

 **E/N:** I may go back and change this chapter a bit more (it's pretty fucking trash). Not entirely happy with it. For now, it works because I want to get to the good stuuf. Credit; Shamelessly stole the title from **Yuugiri** 's work under the same name. That one is a SaiSaku though, and it's just painfully perfect for a KakaSaku and I couldn't resist. This story isn't a priority of mine but something I'll be writing and posting when I want to write something different. If there's a lot of demand for this though, I don't have a problem getting more serious.


	2. Sleeping On The Couch

**A/N:** So sorry for never updating this fic!I keep going back and forth with this story in terms of the plan. Due to the headache that I have subsequently noped out on, I've decided to wing everything and watch ODNT either burn or smolder. No matter what, I at least hope it's fun for all of us.

* * *

 **Old Dog, New Tricks**

* * *

 _ **chapter two**_

* * *

The truth behind Kakashi's living environment was a rather boring surprise. She'd expected more, honestly, but for the most part his apartment barely looked lived in. The biggest sign that someone actually inhabited the immaculately cleaned home was that there was a few picture frames to look at. One with a brunette, a raven-haired boy, a blond man, and Kakashi himself as a younger kid.

 _Whodathunkit?_ Inner asked with a grin _, he's actually human!_

Sakura was actually too sad to find humor in the situation. Mostly because she knew who these people were. Not in person, of course, but from others. Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, and Minato Namikaze. All of them dead, and all of them looking so _alive_ in the photo. It made her think of her own team picture and it made her throat constrict with feelings Sakura did best not dwelling in. Otherwise, she just felt too awful in everyone else's misery that she could barely think straight enough to form chakra scalpels.

Sasuke was enough to handle, she really didn't need to add on Kakashi's emotional baggage on top of it. But it wasn't really much good logically knowing she should keep out of it. As a medic and a naturally empathetic person, Sakura usually and instinctively did her best to _fix_ people that were broken. She didn't have a good track record with actually helping any of them though, if Sasuke was any example to go off of. But she still tried.

Sakura eventually tore her eyes away from the photo as Kakashi came out from his shower. He was already dressed though his hair distinctively shiney with water. She couldn't help but frown.

"Sensei, you should know to dry off better than _that_ ," she scolded, doing what she did best when her teammates were acting like idiots, which was generally all of the time. _Even Sasuke is an idiot_ , Sakura thought to herself with a sigh. Must be a boy thing.

"Should I?" he asked and for second time since being led to his apartment, Sakura wondered how he was taking all of this in so calmly.

She almost had to smile at it, and did for a second before it was swept away. Wordlessly, she walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a dry towel before trudging back out to the living room. Tossing it to him none too gently, she stared at him expectantly.

"I'm a medic," she explained as he gave her a funny look that couldn't be read very well with his mask fully in place, "and you getting a cold on my watch would only make me look like a bad one. Which," she gave him a hint of a smile, "I am not."

"Perhaps," he mused, "you stopping me from getting a cold will ruin the future for you?"

Sakura shrugged. "If you really want to get sick then go ahead, but by that logic, I'm not lifting even so much as a finger to help you out of a tight spot."

"Since when could I ever be put into a tight spot?" he questioned with wry amusement in his tone. Sakura had the feeling he was smiling but for all the years she'd spent reading him, she couldn't be sure about it.

"Sensei," Sakura said in a bland tone. "I know the future and I can assure you that you'll need _plenty_ help in surviving what's to come." _Especially 'cause you did actually die once,_ she thought but didn't dare say out loud. Admittedly, she was actually itching to see his reaction.

"How ominous," he noted and she did smile at that.

Now it was _her_ turn to be all knowing and _his_ turn to be confused. She could get used to this, actually. It was a nice change of pace, all things considered.

"So, have we gone on that C-rank yet?" Sakura asked, not really needing to be much more specific. In all of her genin years, it had been the most terrifying experience she'd faced up to that point and the one in which she'd realized just exactly who the _real_ weak link in the team was.

It certainly hadn't been Naruto.

It wasn't her fondest memory to face and she didn't care to revisit it in person for a second time if she had the choice. Sure, they'd all made it out alive and relatively okay but well, Naruto had told her eventually the sort of life Zabuza and Haku had led.

After that, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them.

Kakashi gave her a look, one that she would eventually get used to the longer she stuck around but for now it was new and terrifying. "What C-rank? We haven't done much more than D-ranks."

Sakura paled and she blinked. "But...but I don't _want_ to go through that again."

He lifted a brow in question.

Defeated, she sighed out before shaking her head. "Nevermind, you'll see soon enough."

* * *

 **Sleeping On The Couch**

* * *

Sakura groaned as soon as she woke up on Kakashi's couch.

He'd offered the bed, but she'd refused to take it for the fact that while she could sleep just about anywhere for a mission, she preferred sleeping in places that she could put a claim to. Like in the hospital, after a grueling twelve-fifteen hour shift, Sakura had a special napping cot in the office she'd received since gaining more responsibilities as a medic. No one else slept on it and she had peace of mind.

Really, it was just her excuse not to reveal how much of a germaphobe she actually was.

Anyway, couches are not the most comfortable places to sleep on, though Sakura wasn't particularly upset at how badly her neck hurt. She could just use the Mystical Palm Technique on that (and she did) but what really goaded her on was the fact that she still had not been returned to her time. A part of her had honestly held out hope for her to wake up in her room or, worse yet but better than being in the past, in the hospital with Shizune there to tell her she'd blacked out and had only been dreaming.

But nope, here she was on her teacher's couch and the birds were still singing in their merry chirp.

Some things never change.

Sakura sighed as she rose from the couch and got the blanket and pillow folded and put away. Then, wandering over to the kitchen, Sakura checked the cupboards for anything worth eating. Apparently though, Kakashi didn't do a whole lot of home cooking. That, or he needed to go shopping. One of the two, though Sakura was certain it was the former. Mostly because she had eaten what Kakashi could cook at a camp fire and it hadn't exactly given her much faith in his ability to do anything more than burn food.

Usually Sakura had been the unfortunate chef out of her teammates as she was the only one who didn't throw ramen cups out of her bag and call that dinner. Instead she'd developed a certain knack for making meals out of limited supplies, if only so that she didn't have to sacrifice her taste buds to charcoal and ramen. Sasuke had been okay when he'd been with them, but Sakura couldn't remember if what he'd made had actually tasted good or just looked like it did.

With another sigh, Sakura rummaged around in the kitchen before pulling something together that was at least a little bit better than instant ramen. Ugh, she hated instant ramen. Naruto loved it, though he actually loved ramen in all forms. His parents had named him aptly, much like how Anko Mitarashi had been named. Her parents were less imaginative though and her hair color had pretty much dictated that whole naming business.

Of course, she didn't resent them for the sort of name that never got her treated seriously. No one shook in fear like they did of Tsunade, because Sakura was the sort of name that brought to mind the gentle spring when the cherry trees blossomed and coated the land in a cheerful pink. Not the image she wanted to maintain, exactly, but she supposed she'd grown into it. She was Sakura, part of the legendary trio that had faced down Madara at what had been the possible end of the world. She could handle anything that came her way and she did _not_ break down at mission critical.

It was exactly the sort of pep talk she needed and she wilted only a little at there not being anyone around to actually give it. Some things were better said by a friend, after all.

With one last sigh, looking at her creation which was really just two simple omelets, Sakura exited the kitchen and wandered down the hall towards Kakashi's room. He opened the door before she could knock.

"I smell food," he said and Sakura gave a half-assed shrug.

"I made an omelet for you. Thought I'd save the village from any sort of fires that might break out with _your_ cooking." It was a gentle jab, the sort she'd started saying since she could throw down with Kakashi and actually land a few hits in that even made _him_ wince. Though her teacher honestly looked surprised.

"I've cooked for you three?" he asked, as if surprised that he could possibly lower himself to do it.

Sakura couldn't help but glare at him. "Once or twice. Pretty sure they were attempts to torture your students, which by the way," she sniffed indignantly, "you're too good at."

His eye wrinkled with humor clear in his gaze. "What other fun stuff have I done? Any sort of ideas you can give me?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out. "And become apart of my own trauma? No way, sensei." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"So you'll still call me that even when you're eighteen?" Kakashi asked, surprising her.

With a blink, she nodded dumbly. "Well, _yeah_ , Tsunade-shishou kind of picks up where you fell behind as a teacher but for the most part, I'm really glad to have been put on your team."

This, she would never actually say to her own Kakashi.

It was far too embarrassing and well, she suspected that he did feel a bit like he'd failed the three of them. He sort of, in a way, _had_ but she had forgiven him long ago for having been such a neglectful teacher. He'd simply had too much emotional baggage to properly deal with them, not to mention how Naruto was his sensei's son. It was no wonder that he'd been distant with them at the start, had even been mean about it all.

It must be a shame, she inwardly mused, to have all three of your genin students turn to other teachers. Especially for them to be the Legendary Sannin, well, that was just saying something. She herself would be a little sad if she never got a full blown apprentice and not just little genin to look after until they turned chunin. She just had too much knowledge to share, so much that she wanted to give so that a future generation could improve whatever it is that she left behind.

Kakashi didn't have a student like that and honestly, he was terrible with children so he probably never would.

She shook her head as her teacher stared at her with something akin to being stunned. Sakura didn't have anything else to add, so she spun on her heels and headed back to the kitchen to eat her omelet. It was one of her better dishes, after all, and high in protein.

"So," she started when he followed after her quietly, "today is going to be terrible. Explaining it to those two idiots is going to be terrible, and considering that you're _you_ , I pretty much have no help at all in that department. You never were very good with the whole explaining bit," Sakura noted dryly.

"Is your entire stay here going to be highlighting all the ways that I fail as a teacher?" he asked after a moment's pause. It was said jokingly but she knew him well enough that she could detect a hint of... _something_. It made sense, no one really wanted to hear about their failures in life. Least of all him.

Sakura looked at him gently, her tone softening. "You aren't actually all that bad. Unfortunately, you got stuck with two headcases." _One who happens to be your sensei's kid. Can't really be easy teaching him everything his dad taught you._ She didn't really want to think to hard on all of it though, so she gave him a bright smile. "I was an alright student though."

What she didn't tell him was that she sometimes suspected that she was his closest student for the very reason that she didn't remind him of any of his bad memories. Rin had been a medic, sure, but the similarities had stopped there if Gai's recounts were anything to trust in. Sasuke was moody enough that very few people could stick around in the end, and Naruto, from what she could gather from the situation, similar enough to a younger Obito, his own mother, and with the right familial resemblance to his father, the Fourth.

So, over the years, Sakura had been the closest to Kakashi out of all of them. They were a little like friends now, with a respectful distance that implied a similar self erected wall to Sasuke's. She did not like dealing with those sort of people but alas, she attracted them one way or another. She simply couldn't fight the hand that fate had dealt and so she'd never really bothered to look past those walls.

However, every once in awhile the two of them went out to eat with neither of the boys around. Even with Sasuke back in Konoha, sometimes it was nice for them to share some quiet silence and eat at a place that _wasn't_ Ichiraku's. It was never something that Sakura could call a date or to hang out with a friend because mostly, they were quiet. They didn't need to talk much, each other's presence being enough.

She knew that Kakashi at least appreciated her and so, for all his mistakes, Sakura had never felt resentment towards him. Well, perhaps not _never_. There was once, after Sasuke had left, that she'd resented _everyone_ but it hadn't really been solely directed at him so it shouldn't really count.

Kakashi gazed at her with that Look again but Sakura stared back, unbothered.

Then, his eye wrinkled with humor once again and he said, "Maa, maa, Sakura-chan, are you going to tell me you're my favorite student?"

She simply looked at him in dry amusement. "I was the lesser headache of three, I _know_ that I'm your favorite. And if you don't believe that, then you will soon."

 _You will soon_ , she'd said and she'd sort of meant it but only with half a heart. Thing was, Sakura wasn't all that confident that she _was_ actually his number one. That was probably Naruto, if she were honest. Hard not to like that guy in all his irritatingly cheerful ways. He might've been stupid but most of the time he let people forget the world and just smile instead.

Sakura, she was quickly beginning to see, was just not the sort of person who was the favorite in anyone's world. She sighed, looking at her uneaten omelet. Kakashi's had miraculously disappeared from his plate but she'd long since given up on looking at his face. She actually kind of liked the mystery of it more. In her head too, it meant he was alive.

If he were dead, she could pretty much take the mask off with no problem. Mystery solved, done. A Kakashi that was alive would never let her get anywhere that close, which she took as a good sign.

Holding up her plate, she quirked a brow. "I'm not really all that hungry, up for seconds? Oh, and is it fine if I look through your closet? I need something other than this to wear."

He took the plate and nodded.

Which was really all she needed before heading into his bedroom. She'd seen it last night, of course, but with the morning light seeping in, it didn't look nearly as lonely. In fact, the sight of it gave at least a moment to herself that wasn't horrible by the fact that she was in the wrong time and everything hinged on her keeping her mouth shut. Which, thinking back on her discussion with Kakashi, hadn't gone very good on _that_ front.

Moment over.

Sakura couldn't help the sigh that slipped out from her lips as she moved towards his closet. She checked for any traps, found none and opened the door with relative ease. What was there was really copies of the same thing Kakashi wore every day. No such thing as casual clothing for him it seemed, which explained why she'd never before seen him in some.

It made her ache for home, where she had a closet full of dresses and shoes she rarely got to wear but kept on the hopes that she one day could. Mostly she just wore her signature outfit that she changed up any time she got too bored with it. Which basically meant that none of what Kakashi had suited to her tastes and she was beginning to feel bleak again.

Steeling herself, something she'd have to do a lot in the coming days, Sakura undressed and mused over how she was going to work an outfit out of men's clothing. Though not as vain as Ino, it wasn't as if she wanted to purposely look as bad as she felt. A part of her would always exist that wanted to be beautiful, it was just simply there and no amount spent covered in sweat, blood, and various other bodily fluids had ever gotten in the way of that. Just like Tsunade, actually.

The two of them were surprisingly similar in a lot of ways.

Sakura grabbed a mesh shirt, rolls of bandages for binding, and plucked one of Kakashi's many black shirts off the rack. It was jounin wear, actually, with the high collar and long sleeves. On it was the red circle with the black swirl within, a symbol of friendship and bonds. She found herself smiling at it, just for a moment before tugging it on. Instantly she was swimming in fabric.

"This just won't do," she said with a forlorn sigh as she tried to adjust it around her waist. She was sure to look extra boyish, more so than usual and lately Sakura had been particularly aware that as time passed she became "one of the guys". It was that way at the hospital at least, but the notion still hadn't gotten to Lee who was still her biggest fan. She took that as a sign that things weren't exactly _hopeless_ yet, though it didn't warm her heart any that it was _Lee_.

"It'll have to do," Sakura muttered, tugging the shirt off so she could get to binding her chest in lieu of not having a bra (not that her flat chest needing anything better than the bandages, bluh) and on her right thigh. Her emergency pack usually went there and without the binding around her leg, she'd have a miserable time trying to get the pack's latches to wrap around and grip. That and she cringed at the idea of the blisters it would cause otherwise.

She still had her arm guards though, had never even taken them off even to sleep. Not to mention her spandex shorts, which she's somehow been hoping Kakashi had a similar pair. Nope, just jounin administered wear. Sakura was feeling even gloomier than before as she tugged back on the shirt and reached for pants to wear.

Then she practically swam in the ocean of fabric as she pulled them on. She immediately took them off and put them back with a quick shake to her head. _Not that desperate_ , she thought, then more critically, _yet_.

She put back on her white skirt which her mom had actually designed. It could zip up (or, really, _down_ ) if she wanted though it usually remained opened for better movement. She almost felt tempted to do it, to close it. It wasn't as if she'd _need_ the extra advantage given how utterly _useless_ she'd been as a fresh genin.

Still doing D-ranks, too. Her day was going to be terrible _and_ boring. Terribly boring.

Sakura shook her head, folded up the rest of her clothes so she could get them washed, and headed back out feeling pretty much defeated by everything.

Much to her great disappointment, Kakashi was also gone. In his place was a note, basically telling her to meet up at the training grounds. So it also basically told her she had ruined whatever nice relationship they could have had and had officially been weirded out enough to avoid her. Which was, in a sense, depressing.

Kakashi never avoided her before.

 _Bet it's cause you come on strong_ , Inner noted and Sakura had to roll her eyes. _What? It's why_ all _of the boys run away from you_.

She didn't really want to hear it in that moment but Inner had a point. Sakura could be intimidating if she wanted to be and it just so happened that she _usually_ preferred to be. Otherwise, she would have attracted more idiots than she cared to handle.

Sakura let out a woe-is-me sigh before heading out of his apartment. Time to relive the worst parts of her childhood.

* * *

 **Sleeping On The Couch - End**


End file.
